Thursday, March 19, 2009

GoodNites® “Jungle”

Kimberly-Clark’s ad agency, JWT, has fielded a new ad for the company’s GoodNites brand sleep pants. What makes this ad different from a decade or more of GoodNites advertising? Maybe it signals a change of conceptual direction for this particular product line. (This is the same JWT that created the funny “Geyser” spot for Huggies brand diapers.)

Tim Witheroe was one of several reviewers who commented on GoodNites campaigns over the years. In 2002, he wrote:

This ad catches our emotions instantly when we observe the young boy huddled against the wall. Ending with their catchy slogan (“Goodnites mean good mornings”) in bold type insures that readers will recall the product name if this problem affects their family. In addition, the picture of the product’s packaging is another memory aid that will be recalled if a parent is out shopping for products of this type.

The print ad he showed, like many others in a similar vein, featured a forlorn child. Print and broadcast executions had a powerful appeal to women (and they’ve been lampooned as well).

This new 2009 print ad lightens things up a lot. Maybe it’s designed to appeal to men since it features a young father reading a bedtime storybook (The Jungle) to his son. Speaking of lighter, there’s a new, equally positive tag line: “GoodNites lighten the night.TM

The most fun of all, though, is an imaginative illustration that evokes the mood of the story. The Mesoamerican jungle night with its moonlit Mayan temple, the animals…it’s eye-catching. (I forgive the non-native elephant since it’s a kid’s book, right?) I don’t know who the illustrator is but will send a note up to JWT to see if a name can be credited. I wish Kimberley-Clark would migrate this to the Goodnites website.

Good advertising tells stories – to me, “Jungle” is a good ad.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it James Patterson? Another guess: Sharif Tarabay or Jamel Akib?

Anonymous said...

I don't think I know the illustrator on today's blog post, although I like it very much. It sort of reminds me of John Collier's work from the 1980's. I was lucky enough to do a series with him and he is really awesome. I like the ad, but would have preferred if they had used the "kid's style" font for the headline only. I think it's a little too much of that one font in a tight space.

Richard Laurence Baron said...

Ken, Kay...thanks for your guesses but they'd be mine, too. I actually don't KNOW the illustrator's name. I'm hoping that JWT will come through with an answer.

Richard Laurence Baron said...

Now I know: Chris Sheban. See the post about him above.

Anonymous said...

Don't ask me why, but I know this a great product.

It is nice to see good copy used to promote it (Goodnites means good mornings)

I think the typography is to be "grunge-like" to appeal to the young parents, but Kay is right, it works better as a headline not as body copy.